A blog for the saints at Arapahoe Road Baptist Church in Centennial, Colorado | A Southern Baptist Church in South Denver | Take the Next Step in Christ | Dr. Matthew Perry, Lead Pastor; Rev. Scott Morter II, Associate Pastor

How Interstate 70 in Colorado Reminds Me of My Father’s Care

As I type this, I am home about three hours after an overnight to a place in the Rockies—Glenwood Springs. That’s hot springs, by the way. This trip was scheduled months ago for my mother-in-law’s trip to Colorado, and also for her birthday (and a significant one at that). Yet, due to some family matters, my mother-in-law could not come, but also my wife had to fly back to Kentucky to be with her family. It was a no-brainer.

So, what about the trip? I put in a call to cancel it, but my wife, mother-in-law, and four kiddos talked me out of it.

So, once church was over and our people left to their respective Labor Day weekends, we piled in the Honda, dropped off the dog at a church member’s, dropped Hannah’s bird off at another member’s and off we went.

In God’s gracious providence, I’m so glad we did. The last few weeks have been quite frantic from a number of angles—more so than usual. And those weeks made life at the house simply about getting things done. “Homework done?” “Shower done?” “Did you brush your teeth? All of them?” “Done picking up your Legos?” (Hey, when there’s lots to accomplish, grammar flies out the window, right?) Thank our Heavenly Father for a backyard and a soccer ball, else we’d be up a tree—all work and no play.

But we swam, played mini golf, at some fun cuisine, watched The Hobbit, walked around a neat little city. What a treat! Vacations are about being with people you’re with every day, but getting to know them all over again. God has blessed me with four incredible children.

And the best part was yet to come.

Interstate 70 in the Rockies is a windy, up-and-down venture that would be awful if it weren’t for the majestic scenery. Every turn brought about another wrinkle in the creative work of a God who knows beauty.

And then I began to realize something—certain turns in life over the past few weeks would certainly be ranging from pretty good to down right rough if it weren’t for the majestic providence of my caring Father.

In Romans 8:26-30, Paul writes:

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[a] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[b] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

We are weak. We suffer due to the curse of sin in the world! We all long for the redemption of our bodies, for what went wrong in the Garden by the first Adam to be remedied in that great City by the Second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; Revelation 21-22). But in the meantime, God’s Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don’t always pray rightly, but the Spirit intercedes to give us what is right according to the will of God. Then that precious Romans 8:28 comes in—for Christians, God is working all things for our good. Why?

Christians are called by the Spirit to salvation (John 3:3-7; John 6:60-66). His work even before we came on the scene was to make His elect in the image of His Son! Foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified—worked out before the foundation of the world with the end being as if it were already secured. We may not understand this, accept this, like this, or believe this is the method, but there it is. God is working all things for our good so that we will be conformed to the image of His Son.

Every turn on I-70 showed me more of God’s beauty.

Every turn in my Christian walk shows me more of God’s beauty.

He’s working all things for my good and His glory—not because I’m any good, but because He chose me by His grace and in spite of my sin!